Written in Nottingham, England, by a very old guy who got into traditional jazz late in life, with much to discover, learn and pass on.
The copyright rests with the writer.

12 March 2013

Post 12: IMPROVISING (by GUEST WRITER CHRIS REILLEY)

Today I am printing below an article that has been sent to me by the English jazz pianist Chris Reilley. Chris has contributed articles to this blog in the past - on Chords, on Jazz Devices, on Playing Boogie-Woogie. Today he tackles the subject of improvising.

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Firstly
let me point out that I am not an expert on this subject and with
regard to any remarks I make, this should be borne in mind. For what
it is worth I have been a jazz musician for about 60 years playing
Mouth Organ, Clarinet, Trombone and Piano/Keyboard. I currently play
Piano/Keyboard with several different Bands playing in the New
Orleans Revival, Classic Jazz, Rhythm and Blues and Boogie Woogie
styles.

An
important factor to consider for this Art is that Jazz is one of the
few music styles in which musicians are expected
to Improvise (Extemporise) on a melody, that is compose a new melody
based on the existing tune on the hoof. For anyone who has not
attempted to master this should be aware that this is not an easy
thing to master, but hopefully the following suggestions might be of
assistance.

There
are several Guides which have been published on the Internet which
might also be considered in relation to this subject as helpful for
the student on this subject. A very great deal of information is
available for those who want to make a greater study of the subject,
however from purely a practicable standpoint, I have written this
Guide in the hope that musicians who wish to learn this Art will not
be overawed with too much information. It would be beneficial if the
student musician had some basic rudimentary knowledge of Musical
Notation, especially if they wish to follow some of the additional
material provided as Musical Score.

I
think there are several areas which could be addressed to clarify
this Guide and I will deal with them as follows:-

Understand
the use of Chord Patterns as an Aid.

Using
Scales and Arpeggios and Leading Notes.

Learning
the correct melody for tunes.

Listen
to the recordings.

Copy
“licks” or sequences.

Establish
the best Tempo, Key and Arrangement for tunes, including Latin
Rhythms.

Practice
keeping a steady Tempo (in Time) on your own with a Metronome and a
Band.

Use
Tonal Changes and Phrasing .

Use
tricks.

1.
Chord Patterns

Whilst
it is important to understand the use of Chords in being able to
improvise it should be stressed that this is not the main requisite
for being able to Improvise on any melody. It is important however
that any Improvisation follows the Chord Pattern of the tune. The
most important factor to consider is the how the instrumentalist
follows the tune without necessarily playing all the same notes as
the composition. To do this is much more difficult as it requires
composing a new melody to fit the tune structure on the fly.

For
the suggested chords given in sheet music, please refer to paragraph
3. below. The above chord Chart represents most of the chords used in
Traditional Jazz music, but not all. The understanding of Chords is a
whole different subject which is not being enlarged on here. Suffice
it to say that not even the Chord symbols used are common throughout
musical notation and some of the more complicated chords require the
use of 7 notes. As a Pianist I decided not to attempt to play these
as I use my left hand only in playing chords (limited to 5 notes and
a stretch of about an octave) and use the right hand for melody.
Anyway in most cases the lead instruments will play the extraneous
notes to extend the chord, so for them it might be more important to
play extended chords.

2.
Scales, Arpeggios, and Leading Notes

Again
as an Aid to the musician, it would be helpful to master the Scales,
Arpeggios and Leading Notes for the Keys which are usually used in
playing Traditional Jazz. In the development of this Genera, Bands
usually play tunes in one of the “Flattened Keys” i.e.- Ab, Bb,
Db, Eb, F and Gb. However the musician will probably come across the
use of C and G as well as passing Chords in which the relevant
passing notes maybe used. Added to these are notes used in the
different chord structures e.g.- Minor, Major, Augmented, Major 6th,
Dominant 7th,
Diminished, and Dominant 9th.
to
name just a few. To add further there are some unusual “magic”
chords used in tunes that appear to bear no resemblance to the key
e.g.- in the Key of Bb major there might appear a leading chord of
Db! Diminished Chords can also be used in the same way. Also see the
chords for Alexander's Ragtime Band below where the chords F#o, Dm7,
Bo, D7 and G7 all of which would need to be considered for learning
outside of the normal flattened keys.

3.
Learning the Correct Melody

Here
there is possible the most difficult part. Unfortunately the original
recordings of tunes made by the Composers were produced on equipment
that was not accurate for speed, and in some cases the the recording
was speeded up to get it all on the Recording Disc or Cylinder. This
meant that the resulting Key was sometimes as much as a whole tone
out. There is, however a check (of sorts) that the Sheet Music
normally gives the suggested Tempo and Key. The shortfall of the
Scored Music is that it is only a Guide to the Melody and is usually
intended to be played in Strict time without any slight change in
tempo or accent. This just does not happen in Traditional Jazz, where
the musicians use their own interpretations of the Melody. Besides
which to write accurate score for some of the tunes played in jazz
bands would require a page full of vary short notes and rests –
almost unreadable. Most musicians would probably not play the same
phrase twice in the same way anyway.

A
reference to the collection of available sheet music for Traditional
Jazz tunes can be a help to establish the melody line, playing key
and suggested chords can be a help for those starting to learn the
tunes. Lead Sheets for many tunes can be purchased as volumes are an
alternative asset at less cost than the full sheet music.

An
example of this is:-This
shows both the Verse and Chorus for this old tune from 1911 composed
by Irving Berlin.

As most of the tunes in these collections
are shown in Concert Key format, it is necessary for the Bb
Instruments to Transpose.

4.
Listen to the Recordings.

In
my view this is the most important requirement in leaning to
Improvise. Most musicians have a favourite Jazz Musician who they
would like to emulate and some (including me) have several. There are
many in this field of Jazz to choose from. It is important that the
student musician(s) listen to those jazz masters which they like in
this Genre of music. It is not suggested that any attempt should be
made to play exactly the same notes and style as the master, but to
learn how they phrase and time the improvisation played by the
professional. The notes the master plays should always fit the
existing tune in terms of chords and timing but it might be difficult
to appreciate some of the more subtle phrases without the student
trying them on their own instrument.

5.
Copy “licks” or Sequences.

From
listening to the recordings the musician should hear (from time to
time) a “lick” or Jazz Phrase used by a master in more than one
as part of their Improvisation. An example of of this can be heard on
the recording by the George Lewis Band made in 1962 shown on
YouTube:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WjvJwtPLyg.
The tune is Over The Waves which starts in Waltz Time and goes into
4/4. In his solo you can hear several phrases which he uses from time
to time in other recordings of other tunes in which he improvises on
the Melody.

6.
Tempo, Key and Arrangements

These
three factors need to be considered separately.

Tempo

There
is a common tendency for musicians who are just starting to play Jazz
is to start tunes at too fast a tempo or speed up during the tune.
In the early days (after 1900) in New Orleans most of the music was
performed by Marching Bands so the common saying at that time was “do
not play faster than you can walk”. Then there were the Dance Bands
that played early Dance Music which was always played at a slow to
moderate tempo. It was not until the age of Jazz came along in the
1920's that the Dances and Tunes hotted up, but there still had be an
allowance for the performing of some numbers that could not be played
by any but the most versatile of musicians working together as a Band
and if they included a Vocalist the tempo had to be moderated to
allow the words to be sung clearly. Another consideration was the
heat, especially in the Summer.

Key

The
Composer suggests the key, but this might have to be changed to allow
for stringed or other sorts of instruments or Vocalist (particularly
with a limited range). Well known recordings have established Keys as
well.

Arrangements

From
the illustration shown below there are many tunes that follow
specific arrangements. All these should be mastered keeping in mind
how many times each part is to be played, the order and in which key.
As can be seen from this example of Tiger Rag, composed in 1917, this
has several parts with suggested “Breaks”, starting in the key of
F Major, going to Bb Major and finally to Ab Major. The Improvisation
would normally not be used until the Ab Strain during the Solos.

7.
Practice keeping a steady Tempo

The
need for Practice is also paramount. I found it helpful to Practice
whilst playing along with some recordings. Only those that were not
too far out of Key. The alternative was to practice with other
members of a Band (assuming the Student is in one). Practice on your
own. This form of practice is the most demanding as the player has to
remember the tune whilst they play the improvisation keeping good
time. Consequently the player must be able to count accurately as
well as all the rest. The musician might find it helpful to record
their efforts as well, so that they can be checked later. It can be
made easier if the Musician has a chording instrument to play along
with as at least a Duet.

8.
Tonal Changes and Phrasing

Each
Instrument has it's own limitations and advantages. The student
should be aware and use as many of these as they can.

For
Tonal
Changes
wind instruments there is the use of note bending, slurring, triple
toughing etc. added to the use of mutes of all types. Knowing the
range limitation of their instrument and particularly when the
attempted notes takes the instrument out of tune.

When
playing in a Band it is also a good idea to ensure all instruments
are in tune with any non tunable instrument such as a Piano. Beware
that being out of tune could effect the ability to Improvise well as
the musician will not sound the same as when previously practising in
the correct key.

Example
of Tonal changes are:-

The
following recording on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WojNaU4-kI

Just
listen to Nick LaRocca (cornet)
and Larry
Shields (clarinet) share the break in Livery
Stable Blues (1917) to hear how LaRocca imitates a horse.

The
Phrasing
the musician uses for their Improvisation is just as important as the
notes they play and gaps they leave in their Improvisation.

To
see some mastery of phrasing and timing view the YouTube recording
made by the Count Basie Orchestra featuring the Count Basie piano &
bass duet 1960 which features the great man, his basest:- Eddie
Jones, the lead Trombonist:- Billy Mitchell and the whole band
playing a Blues called “I Needs to Be Bee'd With” all muted.

To illustrate most of the points made in this document watch the
YouTube recording of Wynton Marsalis plays Buddy Bolden Blues for an
illustration of how to perform without accompaniment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g-1Gpwx9EE

FOOTNOTE

The information was mainly related to "the melody instruments". There are a different approaches required by each of the instrulmentalists within a Traditional Jazz Band. For example the Clarinet normally weaves a musical line around the main lead instrument, where the Trombonist will usually play a bass lead again complementing the Lead instrument.

These are very rough and ready statements as each Band member will usually establish his/her own musical style and there may be times when an established Harmony or Riff will be played by several Band members at pre-established times during tunes.

The most obvious times when individual Improvisation is heard is in Solos. It is at that point that the use of the previous suggestions given can be followed.

Added to that, the rhythm instrumentalists have a different approach. For example the Drummer must rely on trying to represent his/her ideas in Rhythm and a different sound from each part of their Kit.